CHASING BLACK GOLD
GENRE
BIOGRAPHICAL CRIME DRAMA THRILLER ACTION
Core Theme
CRIME PAYS FOR A GOOD TIME, NOT A LONG TIME
TIME PERIOD
1980s & '90s
COMPARABLE TITLES
NARCOS, AMERICAN MADE, MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, LORD OF WAR
CHARACTER LIST
• ROB STONE: 35. A FUEL SMUGGLER WHO IS LIVES ON THE EDGE.
• DOUGLAS KANE: 39. ROB’S BEST FRIEND. BADASS, GREEDY, NARCISSISTIC.
• LINDA STONE: 33. ROB’S WIFE. STRONG MORAL CODE, CHARMING, COMPLEX, CONFIDENT, GRACIOUS.
Logline
For two decades Robert Stone made his living on the high seas. A modern-day pirate, he was a pioneer saturation oil-field diver, treasure hunter and smuggler, which brought him more money than he knew how to spend. Stone spent the last ten of his smuggling years in Africa, where he traded in illicit fuel. The murky waters of the Niger delta were his place of business as he operated in the most corrupt regime in the world, a place ruled by money and guns. Protected by the military he sold his black cargo to legitimate businesses all over the world, making millions of dollars in the process. Chasing Black Gold is a tale straight out of Hollywood, one which throws the reader into a world where suitcases full of millions in cash are flown around the globe on private jets, where the corrupt practices of Third World governments and military regimes must be mastered and a world of numbered bank accounts and countries of convenience, where living under false IDs and money laundering are all in a day’s work.
Target Audiences
Age: 18-34
Target Gender: Universal
Setting
Africa , Brasil, Bahamas, USA, Canada, Scotland, England, Spain, France, Switzerland, Austria, Lichtenstein, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, HongKong, Alaska
Based on a True Story
Yes
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: with a Publisher
Publisher: The History Press https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/chasing-black-gold/9780750960335/
Year Published: 2015
Starting Description
ROBERT STONE was a serial entrepreneur – an enterprising individual, mostly on the wrong side of the law, who spent twenty-five years operating all over the world, before being arrested in Switzerland as a result of an international manhunt led by an Organised Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
Ending Description
Robert Stone is released penniless from prison, having forfeited everything he owned, is reunited with his wife and young family as he returns to his home in Scotland
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
No
ISBN
Information not completed
Mature Audience Themes
Language/Profanity
Plot - Other Elements
Meaningful Message, Twist
Plot - Premise
Internal Journey/Rebirth
Main Character Details
Name: Robert Stone
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Masculine, Perseverance, Badass, Funny, Criminal, Honorable, Secretive, Adventurous, Desperate, Complex, Confident, Greedy, Leader, Lone Wolf, Faithful, Aspiring, Charming, Power-hungry, Skillful, Sexy, Manipulative, Aggressive, Blunt
Additional Character Details
Name: Douglas Kane
Age: 39
Gender: Male
Role: Antagonist
Key Traits: Badass, Aspiring, Complex, Criminal, Greedy, Insecure, Narcissistic, Power-hungry, Manipulative, Unapologetic, Aggressive, Villainous
Additional Character Details
Name: Linda Stone
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Role: Emotional
Key Traits: Strong Moral Code, Beautiful, Charming, Complex, Confident, Gracious, Heartthrob, Honorable, Educated, Funny, Sexy, Sophisticated
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Brief
Based on a true story. For two decades, Robert Stone made his living on the high seas - a
modern-day pirate. He was a pioneer saturation oil-field diver, treasure hunter and smuggler,
which brought him more money than he knew how to spend. This is an account of his life.
What We Liked
- Fast-paced, nonstop criminal adventure.
- Set in various exotic, cinematic worldwide locations.
- Protagonist is resourceful and likeable - a charismatic anti-hero.
- An insider look at a business most people don't know about - fuel smuggling.
- Includes life-threatening, harrowing scenes, so is very high stakes.
- Starts with the end of the second act, foreshadowing the action to come.
Synopsis
Nigeria, 1992. ROB STONE estimates his current worth at 30-50 million.
At his well fortified compound, his wife LINDA and his children are in bed. Four men come to the
door - two soldiers and two Nigerian federal agents. The officials explain that his ships are being
seized for drug smuggling and he is to hand over his passport. Also, the US agencies are looking
for him. He tries slipping ten thousand dollars to them as a bribe, but they won’t take it. Rob is in
deep, deep trouble.
Back to 1988. On their honeymoon, Linda wonders why everything Rob does involves massive
piles of cash and shady people. He says, “it’s complicated.” An understatement.
He started out as a diver, went on to chase gold in shipwrecks, bought ships for fuel-smuggling,
and eventually got involved in drug runs. Rob is tenacious and lucky, never being sure if a
contact will strike a deal or shoot him. He has a pet cheetah that he rescued and an African Grey
parrot that makes him feel like a pirate. His dealings involve legitimate businesses to cover up
the smuggling. We follow his movement from Nigeria to South America, and then to Europe.
After four years, a high level employee confesses to the cops about Rob’s drug running in
exchange for immunity. An associate calls Rob and says “the Feds know everything”. Rob
wonders if the associate is the rat. He speaks to his best friend and partner, Doug Kane, who
thinks Rob should have killed the associate for the betrayal. Set on escaping, Rob tries to get
money from his Swiss bank, but his accounts have been frozen. So he uses a hired gun to force
a pair of Swiss bankers to get his million dollars out of a safe deposit box.
But once back in Nigeria, with his wife and kids, the lawmen are at his door. After finally getting
busted, he is sent to prison while his family moves to Scotland. Next, he is sued by the bankers
in Switzerland. He stands trial in Lichtenstein, 1995. When he addresses the court, he accuses
the brothers of laundering drug money. The plot works and the brothers, worried about their
professional reputation, drop the charges. Rob is finally freed, and years later he discovers it was
in fact his best friend Doug who ratted him out.